


The Broken Promise

by XxPurpleStars3xx



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 15:56:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8291671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxPurpleStars3xx/pseuds/XxPurpleStars3xx
Summary: Set a few weeks after the season finale. Mike realized it's the night of the Snow Ball and suddenly remembers his promise to Eleven. But is it more than just a broken promise that's getting to him?





	

It had been three weeks since the incident occurred.

Three weeks since Will was back.

Three weeks since the Demagorgon had been defeated.

Three weeks since Eleven had disappeared.

And three weeks since Mike Wheeler had basically gotten his heart ripped out of his chest, as much as a twelve-year-old boy’s heart could be ripped out of his chest.

Michael Wheeler sat on his bed. His friends were all busy tonight with their families, and nothing could be more depressing than sitting alone on a Saturday night on the night of the Snow Ball (which he didn’t even have a date to) and…

Wait, Mike thought, tonight was…tonight was the Snow Ball.

Immediately his thoughts went back to Eleven, like they did every day and night. Like they did every time he was in the basement, looking at the fort he made up imagining one day going down and seeing her there chewing on a waffle.

But he knew it would never be true. He knew that she wouldn’t be back, no matter how hard he wanted and hoped and wished. He knew in destroying the monster she had also destroyed herself.

And this it occurred to him that he had broken the promise to her he had made on that science lab table that very night. How they would go home. How his mom would take her in and cook good food and they could go to the Snow Ball together.

That’s when the screaming and crying started. That’s when his mom and sister came running to his locked bedroom door, wondering what was going on with him. And that’s when he started whispering, “El” over and over again while sobbing.

“Mike? Honey, what’s wrong? What are you saying?” his mother kept repeating.

But Nancy heard what he was saying. And though she didn’t know about the promise, she knew about everything else. She could tell how much he liked her, how much she meant to him and how much it didn’t matter that Eleven had been a science experiment in the labs and could do (cool) things with her mind.

Nancy turned to her mom.

“I got this,” she assured her and Mrs. Wheeler nodded and went downstairs. She turned back to her brother’s door. “Mike? It’s just me.”

Mike got up from his bed and unlocked his door. Nancy saw tear-stained cheeks and immediately wrapped her brother in a hug. She moved them into his room and locked the door behind them.

“I broke a promise to El,” he admitted after a while.

“What promise?” Nancy asked, sitting on Mike’s bed.

“I promised her that Mom would make her Eggo’s and that we’d go to the Snow Ball together.”

Nancy pressed her lips together and nodded.

“Mom probably wouldn’t have let a girl live in the house…especially one that you liked,” she said.

That got a small smile out of Mike.

“You’re probably right,” he said, “but it’s a nice thought.”

Mike sighed. Nancy brought her brother in for another hug. Silent tears still ran down his face.

“Do you think she’s still out there?” he asked his sister.

Nancy stayed quiet for a few moments, contemplating the answer.

“It’s possible,” she finally said. “Nothing’s impossible.”

“I just can’t believe I broke that promise to her.”

Nancy turned her brother towards her.

“Listen to me,” she instructed. “Listen to me for once. There’s no way you could’ve known what would happen. There’s nothing you could have done. I know you wanted to keep that promise, I know you liked her, I know you hate it that she’s gone and you’re sad and upset and stuff, but I’m sure she doesn’t want you to be sad.”

Mike stayed quiet and nodded.

I broke my promise. I broke my promise. I broke my promise, was still running in his head until a new thought appeared:

I miss her everyday.

But he would not tell anybody that, not even Dustin, Will or Lucas. He looked towards Nancy and could tell she already knew.

“I know you do,” she said silently to him. “I know you do.”

Mike nodded and a fresh wave of tears raced down his cheeks. Nancy wiped them away and kissed Mike’s forehead.

“Do you…do you think she misses me, too?” Mike questioned.

“I know she does, wherever she is,” Nancy answered. “Are you better now?”

Mike nodded and said, “Yeah, I just…I just wish I hadn’t broken that promise. I would’ve liked to see her in a nice dress tonight. Or just tonight in general.”

Nancy smiled and ruffled Mike’s dark hair.

“I know,” she said. “I’m going to go back to homework. If you need anything more I’ll be right here.”

Nancy got up to leave before a hand stopped her.

“Thank you,” her brother said.

“Anytime.”

Nancy unlocked the door and left for her room. Mike looked out his bedroom window, like he did every night since the night Will came home, thinking about the promise he broke, and how it was so much more than just a broken promise he was upset about.

It was losing her, and not knowing if she was ever coming back to him or not.


End file.
